In the middle of the blood bath stood five individuals who once shared a path.
However, with a twist of fate, one of the five who were destined to become a hero, had become a demon.
Silence filled the air.
Only the sound of the heavy rain could be heard, yet one of them felt as if their world was about to break.
The man, who wielded the sword enveloped in light, pointed his blade against his foe.
Thump! Thump!
His heart beat throbs with pain, yet he could not let it show.
Eidan clenches onto his sword tightly as a spiral of emotions continuously swirls within him.
At first, it was denial. After five long years of searching for his body, Eidan had no choice but to give up due to his role as a hero. Yet, after twenty years, his best friend, a person who he thought he had lost, has now appeared before him with the appearance of a demon.
Next came anger. Even if he had a duty in this world as a hero, he should have never stopped searching. Of all the possibilities that were out there, Eidan had chose to give up -- and with that choice, he now has to accept this new reality.
But then, came bargaining.
'What if there's a chance that he's still there?' he thought to himself.
"Azel." Eidan called out. "Why are you here?"
However, the Demon Lord of Pride didn't respond.
"Tell me, why are you here!?" he demanded.
Though a part of Eidan had hope that Azel would respond when hearing his name, another part of him truly wanted to hear Azel's answer. Towards the end of the battle at the Lake of Helmzloathe, Eidan rushed to find Azel after receiving news of what had happened. But when he arrived to the scene, Azel was no longer there.
The sword of light, Solias, reverberates with fierceness. The intense light Solias was emitting represented Eidan's intense emotions.
"I know what you're trying to do, but you should give it up, Eidan." said the lady who wielded the amber sword. "He may have once been one of us, but that person is no longer there. If you continue like this then things will become dangerous."
Eidan grits his teeth. A part of him already knew it would be a pointless attempt, yet he still had to try.
And that was when a he finally spoke.
"Hm." said the Demon Lord of Pride.
He was slightly intrigued.
Just a few more seconds and he could have finished his meal, yet these four annoying pests had to ruin it.
However, that wasn't what he was focused on.
There was an annoyingly familiar scent in the air that distracted him. The scent itself was faint. It appeared that this sly person had tried to camouflage its scent with the rain at first. However, it was pointless as the scent, itself, grew stronger soon after the barking dog's sword lit up.
'Ah, so there's a demon hidden amongst them.' the Demon Lord concluded.
Nevertheless, it doesn't change his objective here today. His King had ordered him to retrieve the item from the caves, so that is what he shall do.
"So you have chosen to stand in my way, puny humans." as he spoke, the heroes could feel a part of the earth trembling. The Demon Lord held his weapon in front, revealing its identity to be none other than the azure sword, Indra. "Well, that doesn't matter. Since we all posses a fraction of the blades of calamity, why don't we see whose the strongest?"
Multiple bursts of lightning struck the air.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The rain had now become so thick that even the heroes were having a hard time seeing what's in front of them.
Eidan, however, never allowed Azel to leave his vision. Thoughts about Rhalesa's concern cross his mind, but he still wanted to see it for himself.
But soon after, he was met with an ominous glare.
From behind the Demon Lord of Pride, came a presence that shouldn't exist.
A divine beast -- a creature who possess powers that immensely defies the laws of this world. In the wrong hands, these divine beasts are able to decimate an entire population in less than a blink of an eye.
Yet, the divine entity, a 'being' that even rivals that of a god, had been corrupted.
As the creature emerges from behind the Demon Lord, it's deep, red eyes slithers its terror into the hearts of those who see it.
The Storm Hydra, Divine Beast of the Azure Sword, Indra.
"It has three heads?" Rhalesa remarked.
"That thing is absolutely disgusting." said Melani. "Hey, Rhalesa, can you make sure that thing keeps its tentacles far away from us? That'd be great."
"Is that not your job?" she retorts. "Last I remembered, your Divine Beast was considered a guardian, was it not?"
As the two bickered with each other, Eidan fought his own mental battle.
He felt an overwhelming amount of sorrow in his heart. His best friend was no longer there, yet he couldn't come to terms with it. He recalled Rhalesa's warning. If he wanted to stop the Demon Lord of Pride, then he would have to give up.
All that was left for Eidan was acceptance. The evidence was right in front of him. The bloodied massacre they stood in was proof that there were no remorse in the demon's eyes.
With a lump in his throat, he swallows the last of his emotions and severs the tie between them.
Now, the only foes who stood before them was the Demon Lord of Pride and the Storm Hydra.
The two chatterers stopped as they could feel a change in the air around Eidan. With a slight nod to give them the signal, the four heroes all gathered their weapons before them.
"Adventi!" they all called out.
As their mana infused into each sword, an activation of a elements burst to form a hex beneath them. Their color of their hair undergoes a transformation, each representing the same shade as their weapon. The immense energy gathered into the floor disperse, and soon after, appeared four Divine Beasts of Calamity.
The White Dragon of Light, Divine Beast of the Bright Sword, Solias.
The Golden Guardian Lion, Divine Beast of the Amber Sword, Custos.
The Immortal Phoenix, Divine Beast of the Marigold Sword, Nastja.
The Mystic Serpent, Divine Beast of the Indigo Sword, Psumata.
The Demon Lord of Pride smirks.
"Impressive. I can understand now as to why you were all given the title of a hero." said the Demon Lord of Pride.
He could feel his cold blood heating and coursing through his veins as the electrifying sensation of excitement engulfs him.
SSSSSSKKKKKKKKKERRRRKK
The earsplitting noise caused the four heroes to react.
"He's coming!" shouted Rhalesa.
"I know!"
At the same time, a surge of mana gathered in front of them, instantly transforming into a golden barrier.
Crrack!
The barrier easily breaks apart upon the moment of impact, revealing the Demon Lord of Pride lunging forward.
Melani attempts to block it, but found herself unable to react on time.
Pzzzzzzzing!
A razor sharp sound releases as Indra clashes against Solias. The Demon Lord of Pride could have sworn that his blade would come into contact with his prey's neck, yet it seemed his prey had manage to deflect it.
The deathly stare from Eidan excited the Demon Lord and he wanted more. Whatever it was that angered the young pup was transforming him into a beast of his own. Unfortunately, he was forced to separate from the young pup.
Ignise Sepria!
With a conjuration from her sword, a wall of flame shot up from above in between the two of them, forcing him to take a step back.
"Rhalesa, watch out!"
As Melani called out, a large whip-like shadow struck the right side of Rhalesa's body.
Thankfully, the force of impact wasn't that great.
Arrrrrrrrkkk!
The Storm Hydra screamed out in pain.
It had struck its tail at its target, but the force it was able to exert had been limited.
Custos used its mighty jaw to bite down on the top of the Hydra's tail to reduce its impact.
Solias swiftly slashes and decapitates the Hydra's heads with its sharp claws.
Nastja used its wings to protect Rhalesa.
Soon after, the three Divine Beasts find themselves being dragged towards the center of the Hydra.
Kwakkkk!
The three divine beasts screamed.
The Storm Hydra had quickly regenerated its heads and immediately launched its revenge.
Its three heads had multiplied and became six.
The with its viscous bites, the Hydra drags the body of the three beasts off into the distance.
Melani quickly shouted.
"Get back here!"
But in the next moment, she was forced to switch her focus as she felt someone tug against her right arm, dragging her away from her impending doom.
BOOM!
A thunderous strike had missed its mark and, had instead, decimated the trees behind it.
"Stay focus." the voice alerted.
Melani shook her arm off from her savior.
"Why didn't you do anything, Nolan!?" she angrily called out.
The man stood in silence. Instead of responding, he kept his attention focus on the Demon.
"You..." muttered the Demon Lord.
Although the man in front of him had looked a bit different, there was something about the looks of his face that stirs something from within the Demon Lord.
And when the Demon Lord thought of it, an unexplainable surge of anger overwhelmed him.
Whooosh!
The Demon Lord of Pride's aura grew rampant.
Even he was unsure of where this anger came from, yet he welcomed it.
Their eyes met for a brief moment, but that was all that needed to be said. The Demon Lord knew that this man had to die by his hands.
Gathering his intensifying aura manifestation into a single strike, the Demon Lord of Pride launches his strongest attack.
It was the same strike that decimated a thousand people, only this time, it was much more powerful.
Ultimas Devoureas!!
With a electrifying swing from Indra, the world was temporarily blinded by darkness.
"Die."
Yet, again, the same razor sharp sound released.
PZZZZINNNGGG
It was an intensifying clash between light and darkness.
"You little annoying pest! Move out of the way!" the Demon Lord commanded.
"No! I will not let the same mistake happen again!"
Eidan's feelings were true. He had already lost an important friend in his life long ago, and it had became a guilt he had to carry throughout all these years.
He blamed himself for not being able to stand by his best friend's side at the time, and because of that, it had all lead to this shitty situation they were in.
But.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!" Eidan screamed his lungs out.
This time, he was given the opportunity to protect a person who he was close with.
If it meant that he would die then so be it.
Melani and Rhalesa found themselves unable to move. The immense magical energy from their clash was too much for them to handle.
But it was exactly then where the serpent found its best opportunity to strike. The Divine Beast Psumata swiftly wrapped itself against the Demon Lord's torso, restricting his movements.
Shwick!
Like a slithering viper, Nolan struck the Indigo sword, Psumata, deep into the Demon Lord's chest from behind.
"!!!"
The Demon Lord of Pride had been caught by surprise.
"T-this sensation...?"
It was weird.
'I've felt this before.' the Demon Lord thought.
But from where?
Throughout his entire life as a Demon, there has never once been a time where he had felt this something like this.
Melani and Rhalesa both rushed in at this opportunity, imbedding their blade through his front chest as well.
"Hwaaaaa!" they both yelled out.
The two of them rapidly infused their mana into Custos and Nastja, amplifying their attack.
And so did Nolan.
As a strong pulsating energy emitted from behind, a thought came across the Demon Lord of Pride's mind.
'I'm... dying?'
Again, this was the very first time the Demon Lord of Pride has ever felt like this, yet the sensation itself was like déjà vu.
'Die...? Me, the one who had been given the title as the Demon Lord of Pride by the King, am going to die here today?'
The thought itself became almost laughable.
The heavy rain, that had been pounding on the bloodied ground just a moment ago, froze. An immense shockwave of sparks releases into the atmosphere, blowing away the heavy rain like it never existed.
And along with the rain, Psumata, Melani, Nolan, and Rhalesa were blown away in the aftermath as well.
The Demon Lord of Pride enveloped his body in absolute darkness.
"If I am going to die, then I will take you all with me!"
His dark energy seeped deeply into the earth's floor causing the ground to split.
"This crazy fuck. He's trying to blow us all up!" Rhalesa cursed.
Contrary to her words, her face was showed no concern.
And the reason was quite simple.
A beam of light shot up into the sky that had been blinded by darkness and lit up the surrounding area.
In the center of it all, stood Eidan, the wielder of the Bright Sword.
Both of his hands firmly gripped Solias and brought it close to him.
He gathered together his conviction.
"I will free you from shackles of that demon." he proclaimed.
Eidan lunges forward and the beam of light followed.
At first, the Demon Lord of Pride had tried to deflect the attack. He could clearly see where the blade was approaching, yet when he moved Indra to block the incoming attack from connecting, the blade's trajectory changed.
Luminos Ulteria
Upon impact, the Demon Lord of Pride felt a warm sensation enveloping inside his body, yet there was no pain at all.
Thud!
The Demon fell to his knees, and soon after on his back.
The scales around his body began to disintegrate, and soon after, his body slowly followed.
In the end, he was never able to retrieve the item the Demon King had ordered him to.
But parts of him had no more care in that regard.
His head throbbed with immense pain as visions of his past life played through his head.
'Is this what they meant when they say your life flashes right before your very eyes in the face of death?' he wondered.
As his consciousness was slowly returning to him, so did his emotions. An intense rage swelled inside his heart, followed by sorrow.
'Nolan... you son of a bitch.' he inwardly curses.
During their battle against the demon clan at the Lake of Helmzloathe, Nolan had betrayed him and stabbed him from behind. As he fell to the floor, he remembered the smirk look on Nolan's face as the demons were approaching.
And in that memory, he remembered what Nolan had said to him in his final moments.
"Die."
The uncontrollable tears begun to swelled from his eyes, yet he forcefully held them back. He understood the reality of the situation. Unfortunately for him, life was unfair.
So instead of feeling the same series of negative emotions that he had when he was betrayed by his companion, he opted for the second option that had been presented to him.
He glances one last time at the back of the man who he once called his best friend. Although he couldn't see him, Azel could tell just from looking at his back that Eidan had been fighting a hard battle all this time.
If there was a final thing that he could do to lift his burdens away from him, then he will.
So he smiled.
"You've grown strong, Eidan."
Upon hearing the familiar voice calling out his name, his ears perked up.
'Can it be?' he thought to himself.
But as he turned around to hear the voice that called out to him, the person who he had long to see was no longer there.
"... is it finally over?" said the young knight as he crawled out of hiding.